Methods and apparatus for providing voice mail services

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus for retrieving and providing voice mail messages from a server are described. In accordance with the invention voice mail messages may be retrieved via requests made via a set top box. Voice mail messages are retrieved in response to the request from a voice mail server which is also accessible via the telephone network. Retrieved voice mail is transcoded and included in a video on demand (VOD) file. Text, call ID information and/or other information as, e.g., an automatically generated transcript of the voice mail message, may be included in the VOD file. The VOD file is supplied to a VOD server which provides the file including the message to the set top box for display. A user can view the messages and switch from viewing one message to the next by using video play back commands.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present application relates to voice mail methods and moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus for providing access to voicemail via a system which supports video on demand playback capability.

BACKGROUND

Voice mail has become an important part of communication. Ascommunication systems have become more integrated over time and serviceproviders offer packages of telephone, data and video services, users ofsuch services have a growing expectation that they will be able toaccess their voice mail in a variety of ways.

Providing voice mail via conventional telephone access and more recentlyvia data connections and services which support IP has become morecommon. In the case of video systems however, e.g., cable systems,providing access to and control over voice mail has proven to be moredifficult. This is, in part, due to the amount of legacy equipmentdeployed in cable systems. In such systems set top boxes are normallylocated in individual customer premises. The older set top boxes weregenerally designed to support video services and not necessarilyinteractive voice mail services or non-video data intensive services.

Like older set top boxes, many of the servers in cable headends wereprimarily designed to distribute video content. Such systems were, inmany cases, not designed for the purpose of distributing voice mailmessages or for supporting access to voice mail.

While cable network providers have often added voice mail servers totheir systems to provide voice mail to users who subscribe to combinedtelephony, data and video packages, such voice mail servers haveprimarily been accessible to end users via telephone devices and notthrough set top boxes.

In order to increase the level of integration of services, it would bedesirable if methods and apparatus could be developed which would allowa user access to the user's network based voice mail via a set top box.It would be particularly desirable if such methods could be developedwithout requiring major new elements in a cable network or replacementof existing set top boxes.

SUMMARY

Methods and apparatus for retrieving and providing voice mail messagesfrom a voice mail server are described. Messages are retrieved forpresentation in response to signals received from a set top box and aredisplayed on a device coupled to the set top box. Advantageously,methods and apparatus described herein can be implemented withoutrequiring hardware upgrades to many currently deployed set top boxes andoften without major hardware modifications to systems in a cable networkheadend.

In accordance with the invention voice mail messages may be retrievedfrom a server, e.g., a voice mail server, used to provide network basedvoice mail services via requests made via a set top box. The server fromwhich the messages are received may be a server which allows for accessto the voice mail messages via a telephone network as is commonly thecase.

Retrieved voice mail content is transcoded, if necessary, to covert theaudio portion of the voice mail message from a first audio formatsupported by the voice mail server to a second audio format supported bya STB, television, or other device to which a generated video on demand(VOD) file is to be supplied for playback. The transcoded audio isincorporated into a video on demand (VOD) file generated by thetranscoder. The transcoder may be implemented as a separate physicaldevice form the voice mail server or incorporated as a module into thevoice mail server.

Multiple retrieved voice messages may be included in a single VOD file.Alternatively, a single VOD file may be generated for each retrievedvoice mail message. Incorporation of multiple retrieved voice messagesinto a single VOD file facilities navigation and playback of voice mailmessages using a remote control and standard VOD control functions suchas fast forward, skip, rewind, etc. Text information, e.g., caller IDinformation and/or other information such as an automatically generatedtranscript of the voice mail message or messages may be included in theVOD file which is generated. The inclusion of text information as animage which can be displayed allows text information corresponding to amessage to be displayed while the audio portion of the message is playedback as part of a standard video playback operation. The displayed textmay include enhanced caller ID information, the time at which themessage was recorded and/or an automatically generated text transcriptof the message. Because text as well as audio information can bepresented in accordance with the invention in a synchronized manner, themethods and apparatus of the invention are particularly well suited forproviding voice mail access to the hearing impaired.

The VOD file generated by the transcoder is supplied to a VOD serverwhich provides the file including the message to the set top box fordisplay. When the VOD file is available for delivery, a signal may becommunicated to the STB corresponding to the requesting voice mail userto notify the STB and/or the user that the voice mail content isavailable for delivery. Final delivery of the VOD file may be initiatedby a user sending a command to the STB or by an application on the STBautomatically requesting delivery from the VOD server of the VOD fileincluding the requested voice mail content.

A user can listen and review the messages, including any imagesassociated therewith including text information, and switch from viewingone message to the next by using video play back commands includingcommands used to jump from one portion of the VOD file to another or tofast forward or rewind. Commands to delete particular messages orforward messages may be communicated from the STB to the VM server sothat the user has the opportunity to delete messages from the voice mailserver via the STB. The communication of a command may involve relayingand/or processing of the command by one or more intermediate devicessuch as a server or SIP proxy, to generate a signal communicated to thevoice mail server and used to control the voice mail server to performthe command.

Given that the VOD based method of delivering voice mail messages viaset top boxes can be implemented in many cases with relatively minormodifications to deployed cable systems, the methods and apparatusdescribed herein are particularly well suited for providing improvedlevels of integration between voice mail and video subscriptionservices.

Numerous additional benefits, features and embodiments of the methodsand apparatus of the present invention are described in the detaileddescription which follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system and signaling among variouselements of the system, in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 2 which comprises the combination of FIGS. 2A and 2B, is aflowchart illustrating the steps of an exemplary method of providingaccess to voice mail content, in accordance with one aspect of theinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary voice mail transcoder implemented inaccordance with one exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system 100 and signaling among variouselements of the system, in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention.

Exemplary system 100 includes a public switched telephone network 120, acable network headend 107, a cable network 122 and a customer premise101, e.g., home or office of a voice mail service subscriber, which arecoupled together as shown in FIG. 1.

The cable network headend 107, e.g., cable office in which cable systemelements are located, includes a plurality of voice mail (VM) servers102, . . . , 102′, a caller identification (CID) server 106, atranscoder 108, e.g., a voice mail transcoder, and a Video on Demand(VOD) server 110. In some but not all embodiments a SIP (sessioninitiation protocol) proxy 104 is included and serves to supportcommunications between the CID server 106 and VM server 102. The CIDserver 106, in some embodiments provides notification of received voicemail messages along with caller identification information relating tothe caller who left a voice mail message.

The customer premise 101, e.g., a voice mail subscriber's residence oroffice, includes various pieces of customer premise equipment (CPE)which support communications including accessing voice mail. Thecustomer premise equipment includes a set top box (STB) 112, a telephone103 and a television 105 or other audio/video output device. A remotecontrol 114 which can be used by a voice mail user, to control the STB112, is also located at the customer premise 101. Notification of voicemail messages may be sent to the STB 112 from the CID server 106 tonotify a voice mail user, e.g., the service subscriber to whom the STB112 corresponds, of a voice mail message. The notification message maybe displayed on the television 105 coupled to the STB 112. Thus itshould be appreciated that CID server 106 includes an interface forreceiving/sending signals to/from STB 112 and VM sever 102.

As will be discussed below, via telephone 103 and PSTN 120 a voice mailservice subscriber located at customer premise 101 can access andretrieve voice mail messages stored on VM server 102. In addition, inaccordance with the invention, the voice mail service subscriber mayalso retrieve and access voice mail messages stored on VM server 102 viaSTB 112 and cable network 122 with one or more retrieved voice mailmessages being played back as part a video on demand session with thevoice mail being routed via VOD server 110. The VOD server 110 may be,and in many cases is, a VOD server which is also used to provide pay perview and/or other videos on demand in response to a subscriber's requestmade via STB 112.

In accordance with one feature of the invention, when a user, e.g.,subscriber wishes to access voice messages corresponding to his/hervoice mail account, the subscriber sends a signal from a control device,e.g., a remote control, to the set top box (STB) 112 indicating thesubscriber's desire to access voice mail content corresponding to thesubscriber's voice mail account and, in some cases, identifying one ormore voice mail messages to be retrieved. In accordance with one aspectof the invention the signal from the subscriber to the STB 112 triggersthe STB 112 to send a request signal 1 to the CID server 106. The CIDserver 106 receives the request signal 1 from the STB 112. In someembodiments, the CID server verifies the subscriber ID or authenticatesthe subscriber that requested access to the voice mail, e.g., bychecking a password, PIN or some other security code used for securitypurposes and/or for controlling access to a particular voice mailaccount. In some embodiments, the request signal 1 identifies a voicemail account of the subscriber and at least one stored messagecorresponding to the voice mail account which is to be retrieved. Insome embodiments, the request signal 1 identifies a plurality ofmessages which are stored as separate files on the VM server 102, whichare to be retrieved and played back to the requested voice mail servicesubscriber.

The CID server 106, after receiving the request signal 1, determineswhich of the plurality of VM servers 102, . . . , 102′ stores the voicemail content corresponding to the voice mail and/or voice mailsubscriber identified by the request signal 1.

After identifying the relevant voice mail server 102, CID server 106,sends a control message used to initiate retrieval of the requestedvoice mail. The control message, e.g., signal 2 or 3, is sent to atleast one of the identified VM server 102 and transcoder 108. Inembodiments where the control message is sent to the VM server 102, thecontrol message triggers the VM server 102 to output the requested voicemail content to the transcoder 108. In some embodiments an optional SIPproxy 104, shown in FIG. 1 using dashed lines, is used to communicatethe voice mail retrieval control message from the CID server 106 to theVM server 102.

In some other embodiments the control message used to initiate retrievalof the requested voice mail from the VM server 108 is sent from the CIDserver 106, e.g., as signal 3, to the transcoder 108. Receipt of thecontrol signal 3 causes the transcoder 108 to send a request, e.g.,signal 4, to the VM server 106 to supply the voice mail content to thetranscoder 108.

The transfer of the voice mail content, i.e., the messages or messageswhich were requested, to the voice mail transcoder is represented inFIG. 1 as signal 5. As noted above, this transfer may be in response tosignal 2 from the CID server or signal 4 from the voice mail transcoder.

In some embodiments, the requested voice mail content is communicatedfrom the voice mail server 102 in a real time streaming protocol (RTSP)data stream. Thus signal 5 may, and in some embodiments does, representRTSP communication of the requested voice mail content to the transcoder108.

Following the receipt of the voice mail content from the VM server 102,the transcoder 108 converts the voice mail content corresponding to avoice message from a first format, e.g., a G711Ulaw format, a G.729format, a G.726 format, a AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate) format or a EVRC(Enhanced Variable Rate Codec) format, often used for telephony relatedapplications to a second format, the second format being supported bythe video on demand server 110 and/or STB 112. In some embodiments thesecond format is one of an MPEG-2 format and AC3 audio format. The firstformat, e.g., an audio coding format, that is different from said secondformat which may be an audio format and/or a combined audio codingformat used for combined audio/video presentation. The second format maybe, and sometimes is, an MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 format specified by the MovingPicture Experts Group of the ISO (International Organization forStandardization). The first format is, e.g., a format in which the voicemail content is stored on the VM server 102. In some embodiments thevoice mail content sent from the VM server 102 includes multipledifferent voice mail messages which were requested to be retrieved. Inone such embodiment the transcoder 108 combines the audio contentcorresponding to multiple voice mail messages into a single VOD file.The voice mail messages may be included in an audio portion of the VODfile. Caller ID, message date and time information and/or other text orvisual information may, and in some embodiments is, coded into the VODfile generated by the transcoder as image data corresponding to one ormore audio messages.

In some but not all embodiments, speech recognition and/or othertechniques may be used to generate a text version of the content of avoice mail message. A text version of the audio voice mail message maybe included in the image portion of the VOD file with the text beingpresented along with or as an alternative to, the audio version of themessage. Such an embodiment is particularly well suited for the hearingimpaired who may have difficulty understanding the content of an audioversion of the message. Since the text may be generated in an automatedmanner by the server 108, the VOD method of providing voice mailmessages is particularly well suited for providing hearing impairedindividuals access to the content of voice mail messages withoutrequiring special equipment at the subscriber's residence and at a lowcost.

A separate frame including caller ID and/or other information may beincluded in the VOD file for each individual audio message with the datainformation corresponding to a retrieved message being displayed inconjunction with the audio playback of a message as part of a VODsession.

The transcoder 108 generates a VOD file including the voice mail contentwhich has been converted into the second format. As noted above, asingle VOD file may be created including multiple messages. In otherembodiments one VOD file may be generated for each message.

In addition to including audio and video content, the transcoder 108 mayinclude in the VOD file executable code which, when executed by the STB112 provides the STB 112 and thus user with voice mail functionalitywhich was not available from the applications available in the STB 112prior to downloading of the VOD file generated by the transcoder. Theapplication may support user interactivity and give the user theopportunity to enter voice mail related commands or selections notnormally supported by the STB 112 when operating to provided other VODcontent such as pay per view content.

Thus, while generating the VOD file, in some embodiments, the transcoder108 includes a set top box 112 executable application in addition to thevoice mail content, in the VOD file being generated. As discussed above,the STB executable application may be, e.g., a software update for theSTB 112 helping the STB to 112 to, e.g., play the voice mail and/ordisplay information sent in the VOD file. In some embodiments thetranscoder 108 includes an EBIF (enhanced binary interchange format)trigger in the VOD file. The EBIF trigger may include controlinformation sent to the STB 112 which may be used to cause the STB 112to execute an application or present one or more prompts to thesubscriber thereby providing the subscriber an opportunity to, forexample, indicate/select a voice message from one or more voice messagesin the VOD file. The EBIF trigger may be used to cause an EBIFapplication also included in the VOD file by the transcoder 108 toexecute the EBIF application. The EBIF application may be, for example,a voice mail presentation application or another interactive applicationgiving the user the opportunity to playback, skip and/or delete voicemail included in the VOD file.

The transcoder 108 sends the generated VOD file to the VOD server 110.The communication of the generated VOD file including voice mail contentand, optionally, application code (EBIF or native STB code which can beexecuted by a processor in a STB), to the VOD server 110 is representedin FIG. 1 as signal 8.

The downloading of the voice mail content is normally triggered by theSTB 112 sending a signal to the VOD server 110. So that the STB 112 canbe made aware of the availability of the requested VM content, thetranscoder 108 and/or VOD server send a signal (6 or 6′) to the CIDserver 106 indicating that the requested voice mail content is availablefor playback from the VOD server 110.

Thus, the CID server 106 is informed that the voice mail content isready for delivery by the VOD server 110. Following the notification(signal 6 or 6′) the CID server 106 sends a signal 7 to the STB 112indicating the voice mail content is available for delivery.Alternatively, in some embodiments, the VOD server notifies the STB 112of the availability of the requested voice mail content. Once the STB112 is aware that the requested voice mail content is available, the STB112 initiates the establishment of an on demand session and identifiesto the VOD server the VOD file created by the VM transcoder and suppliedto the VOD server 110 which is to be retrieved. The file identificationinformation may, and in some embodiments is communicated to the STBand/or CID server 106 as part of the notification that the VOD file isavailable at the VOD server 110. Signal 9 which is sent from the STB 112to the VOD server 108 represents the initiation of a VOD session used toretrieve the voice mail content from the VOD server 110.

In response to the signal from the STB 112, the on demand session isestablished, and the VOD server 110 delivers the voice mail content tothe STB 112 which can be played back to the user and the correspondinginformation can be displayed on the television 105 with the user beingprovided with audio and/or video information corresponding to the voicemail message. The user may control the playback of messages and skipbetween messages in the same manner that a user would control any otherVOD session.

In the case of deletion of a voice mail message via a user's interactionwith the STB 112, the STB 112 may provide a visual and/or audioindication that the message has been deleted, e.g., via a televisioncoupled to the STB 112. After the deletion, the STB 112 prevents theuser from accessing the deleted voice mail message in the VOD file. Insome embodiments, the portion of the VOD file corresponding to thedeleted message is removed, e.g., deleted from the STB memory. Inaddition to deleting the message from the VOD file, the STB 112 sends asignal, to cause deletion of the message which the user indicated was tobe deleted, from the voice mail server 102. The signal to cause deletionof a message or messages from the subscriber's voice mail stored in theVM server 102 may be sent to the CID server 106 which then relays orsends an additional signal the VM server 102 to cause deletion of astored voice mail in response to a user signal sent to the STB 112. Inaddition to a signal to delete a message the STB may send one or moresignals to cause the VM server 102 to change a message status from newto saved in response to input from a user which triggers a signal fromthe STB 112 or in response to an automatically generated signal from theSTB 112 which is generated in response to the message having beenplayed. In addition to a user of the STB may control the VM server 102to forward a voice mail message to a telephone number or other device.Control signals from the STB 112 which are used to control the VM serverto update a subscriber's voice mail record and/or take some otheraction, e.g., after one or more voice mail messages are played back in aVOD file, are represented by dashed arrow 12. Note that arrow 12 isshown passing through CID server 106 and optional SIP proxy 104. Theseelements may be used to forward the message/signal 12 or may generate acontrol signal based on a received signal with the generated signalbeing sent to the VM server 102 and used to control the VM server 102 toperform the communicated action.

FIG. 2 which comprises the combination of FIGS. 2A and 2B, is aflowchart 200 illustrating the steps of an exemplary method of providingaccess to voice mail content, in accordance with one aspect of theinvention. The flowchart 200 will be discussed with reference to thesystem 100 discussed above in detail and therefore same signalingnotation which has been used while describing communication between theelements of system 100 will be used to discuss various steps offlowchart 200. The operation of the exemplary method starts in step 202where one or more elements of the system 100 are initialized. Operationproceeds from step 202 to step 204. In step 204 a voice mail accessrequest signal is received at a set top box, e.g., STB 112, from asubscriber of voice mail service. The voice mail access request signalbeing a request for accessing the voice mail content, e.g., voicemessages, corresponding to the subscriber's voice mail account. Thesubscriber may use a control device such as a remote control 114 to sendthe voice mail access request signal.

Operation proceeds from step 204 to step 206. Following the receipt ofthe voice mail access request signal, in step 206 the STB 112 sends arequest, e.g., signal 1, for access to the voice mail contentcorresponding to the voice mail account to a first server. In at leastsome embodiments the request signal 1 identifies at least one storedmessage corresponding to the voice mail account which is to beretrieved. In some embodiments request signal 1 identifies a pluralityof messages which are stored as separate files on a voice mail server,e.g., server 102, which are to be retrieved and played back to therequested voice mail service subscriber. In some embodiments the firstserver is a caller identification server, e.g., CID server 106, whichsupports caller identification services. The CID server 106 receives therequest signal 1 from the STB 112, and may verify the subscriber ID andauthenticate the subscriber that requested access to the voice mail.

Operation proceeds from step 206 to step 208. In step 208 the CID server106 is operated to determine which of a plurality of voice mail serversin the system 100, e.g., 102, . . . , 102′ stores the voice mail contentcorresponding to the voice mail account identified in the request signal1. The operation proceeds from step 208 to step 209 or step 210depending on the embodiment. In step 209 the CID server 106 sends acontrol message, e.g., signal 2, to the voice mail server 102 to outputthe voice mail content corresponding to the subscriber's voice mailaccount. In some embodiments an optional SIP proxy 104, shown in FIG. 1,is used to communicate the voice mail retrieval control message (signal2) from the CID server 106 to the VM server 102.

In some other embodiments where step 210 is performed, the CID server106 sends a control message, e.g., signal 3, to a transcoder, e.g.,voice mail transcoder 108, controlling the transcoder 108 to request,e.g., via signal 4, the voice mail server 102 to supply the voice mailcontent to the transcoder 108. Operation proceeds from 209 or step 210to step 212.

In response to either the control message 2 sent from the CID server 106or the request signal 4 sent from the transcoder 108, in step 212 thetranscoder 108 receives the voice mail content from the voice mailserver 102 as shown using signal 5. In some embodiments, the requestedvoice mail content is communicated from the voice mail server 102 in areal time streaming protocol (RTSP) data stream. Operation proceeds fromstep 212 to step 214. In step 214 after receiving the voice mail contentfrom the voice mail server 102, the transcoder 108 is operated toconvert the voice mail content corresponding to a voice message in afirst format to a second format, the second format being a formatsupported by a video on demand server, e.g., VOD server 110, and beingone of an MPEG-2 format and AC3 audio format. The first format is, e.g.,a format in which the voice mail content is stored on the VM server 102.For example, the first format is, e.g., one of a G.711Ulaw compliantformat, a G.729 compliant format, a G.726 compliant format, an AMRformat, and a EVRC format, commonly used for audio sent over telephonesor for voice over IP calls and is different from the second format,e.g., an MPEG-2 or AC3 format, commonly used for the audio correspondingto a video presentation. G.711, G.729, and G.726 are described invarious ITU Standards Documents.

Operation proceeds from step 214 to step 216 where the transcoder isoperated to generate a video on demand (VOD) file including the voicemail content in the second format. In some embodiments the voice mailcontent sent from the VM server 102 to the transcoder 108, includesmultiple different voice mail messages which were requested to beretrieved. In one such embodiment the transcoder 108 combines the audiocontent corresponding to multiple voice mail messages into a single VODfile. As discussed earlier, the voice mail messages may be included inan audio portion of the VOD file. Other relevant information associatedwith one or more voice mail messages such as Caller ID, message date andtime information and/or other text or visual information may be codedinto the VOD file generated by the transcoder 108 as image data. Thus insome embodiments, a single VOD file may be created including multiplemessages. In other embodiments one VOD file may be generated for eachmessage.

In some embodiments, as a part of step 216 sub-steps 218 and 220 arealso performed. In addition to including voice mail content in thegenerated VOD file, the transcoder 108 in step 218 includes in the VODfile, STB 112 executable application which when executed by the STB 112provides the STB 112 and thus user with voice mail functionality whichwas not available from the applications available in the STB 112 priorto downloading of the VOD file generated by the transcoder 108. Theapplication may support user interactivity and give the user theopportunity to enter voice mail related commands or selections notnormally supported by the STB 112 when operating to provide other VODcontent such as pay per view content. The STB executable application maybe, e.g., a software update for the STB 112 helping the STB to 112 to,e.g., play the voice mail and/or display information sent in the VODfile. In sub-step 220 the transcoder 108 includes an EBIF (enhancedbinary interchange format) trigger in the VOD file. The EBIF triggersmay include control information sent to the STB 112 which may be used tocause the STB 112 to execute an application or present one or moreprompts to the subscriber thereby providing the subscriber anopportunity to, for example, indicate/select a voice message from one ormore voice messages in the VOD file.

Operation proceeds from step 216 to step 222. In step 222 the transcoder108 sends the generated VOD file including the voice mail content to theVOD server 110. The communication of the generated VOD file includingvoice mail content and, optionally, application code, to the VOD server110 is represented in FIG. 1 as signal 8. The operation proceeds fromstep 222 to step 226 via connecting node A 224. In step 226 the VODserver 110 receives the voice mail content corresponding to the voicemail account. As part of the step 226 of receiving the voice mailcontent, in step 228 the VOD server 110 receives the transcodergenerated VOD file including the voice mail content from the transcoder108.

Operation proceeds from step 226 to one of step 230 and 232 depending onthe embodiment and implementation. Thus in some embodiments step 230 isperformed, while step 232 is performed in some other embodiments. Instep 230 the VOD server 110 sends a signal, e.g., signal 6 of FIG. 1, tothe CID server indicating that the requested voice mail content isavailable for delivery by the VOD server 110. In some other embodimentswhere step 232 is performed, the transcoder 108 sends a signal (signal6′ shown in FIG. 1) indicating that the requested voice mail content isavailable for delivery by the VOD server 110.

Operation proceeds from step 230 or 232 to step 234. Following thereceipt of either of the signals 6 or 6′ by the first server 106, instep 234 the first server 106 is operated to signal the STB 112 that thevoice mail content is available for delivery to the STB 112, e.g.,during an on demand session. The communication of such a signal is shownin FIG. 1 using signal 7. The operation proceeds from step 234 to step236 where the STB 112 is operated to send a message (signal 9 of FIG. 1)to the VOD server 110, the message being used to initiate an on demandsession in which the voice mail content can be delivered. For example,once the STB 112 is aware that the requested voice mail content isavailable, the STB 112 initiates the establishment of an on demandsession and identifies to the VOD server the VOD file created by the VMtranscoder 108 and supplied to the VOD server 110 which is to beretrieved. The file identification information may, and in someembodiments is communicated to the STB and/or the CID server 106 as partof the notification that the VOD file is available at the VOD server110. Signal 9 which is sent from the STB 112 to the VOD server 110represents the initiation of a VOD session used to retrieve the voicemail content from the VOD server 110.

Operation proceeds from step 236 to step 238. In step 238 in response tothe signal 9 from the STB 112, the on demand session is established, andthe VOD server 110 transmits the VOD file including the voice mailcontent to the STB 112 thereby delivering the voice mail contentcorresponding to the voice mail account to the STB 112 as part of the ondemand session, which can be played back to the user and thecorresponding information can be displayed on the television 105 withthe user being provided with audio and/or video informationcorresponding to the voice mail message. The user may control theplayback of messages, select between voice messages to be played, deleteand/or store one or more selected voice messages on the STB 112 ifdesired, and perform various other tasks. The operation proceeds fromstep 238 back to step 204 via connecting node B 240 and the operationmay repeat, e.g., when another request to access voice mail is receivedfrom the subscriber.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary voice mail transcoder 300, in accordancewith one exemplary embodiment. The exemplary transcoder 300 can be usedas the transcoder 108 shown in the system of FIG. 1. As shown, the VMtranscoder 300 includes an Input/Output (I/O) interface 302, a processor304 and a memory 308. The I/O interface 302, processor 304 and thememory 308 are coupled together via bus 306. Various elements of the VMtranscoder 300 can exchange data and information over the bus 306.

Via the I/O interface 302, VM transcoder 300 can exchange signals and/orinformation with other devices and/or system elements such as the VMserver 102, CID server 106, VOD server in the cable network head end107. The I/O interface 302 supports the receipt of voice mail content,e.g., from VM server 102 as well as transmission of voice mail content,e.g., to the VOD server, as represented by arrow 340.

The processor 304, e.g., a CPU, executes routines 318 stored in thememory 308 and, under direction of the routines 318, controls thetranscoder 300 to operate and perform various tasks, e.g., sendingrequest for voice mail content to the VM server 102, receiving voicemail content etc., in accordance with the invention. To control thetranscoder 300, the processor 304 uses information and/or routinesincluding instructions stored in memory 308.

The memory 308 includes a transcoding module 310, a VOD file generationmodule 312, received voice mail content 314, received VM content formatinformation 316, routines 318, generated VOD file 320. The generated VODfile 320 includes the transcoded voice mail content 322 and optionallySTB executable application 324 and EBIF trigger 326. Routines 224include communications routines and/or set top box control routines.

The transcoding module 310 is responsible for converting the receivedvoice mail content corresponding to one or more voice message in a firstformat to a second format. The second format, e.g., MPEG-2 format or aAVC compliant format is supported by the VOD server 110. The VOD filegeneration module 312 is responsible for generating a video on demandfile and takes the transcoded voice mail content as an input. In someembodiments the VOD file generation module 312 is configured to includeset top box executable application in the VOD file being generated inaddition to the voice mail content in the second format. In someembodiments the VOD file generation module 312 is further configured toinclude an EBIF trigger in the generated VOD file. The generated VODfile 320 is an output of the VOD file generation module 312.

The received voice mail content 314 is the voice mail contentcorresponding to one or more voice messages that is received from the VMserver 102. The received voice mail content 314 may be received inresponse to a voice mail content request (e.g., signal 4) from thetranscoder 300 to the VM server 102 or in response to a request signalfrom the CID server 106 to the VM server 102 requesting to supply thevoice mail content to the transcoder 300 (108). The received voice mailcontent format information 316 includes information regarding the firstformat in which the voice mail content is received from the VM server102. The received voice mail content format information 316 may be usedby the transcoding module 310 while converting the voice mail contentfrom the first format to the second format. The generated VOD file 320is the output from the VOD file generation module 312 and includes thetranscoded voice mail content 322 in the second format and in someembodiments further includes the STB executable application 324 and EBIFtrigger 326.

While shown as separate elements, it should be appreciated that thefunctionality of CID sever 106, optional SIP proxy 104, VM sever 102 andVM transcoder 108 may be integrated into a single device or thefunctionality may be distributed between multiple devices. In the singledevice embodiment, the device performing the described functions mayinclude modules which perform the functions of the separate devices 106,104, 102, 108 with internal signals being used in place of the numberedmessages between the devices shown in FIG. 1. Thus it should beappreciated that the level of integration and number of functionsperformed by the individual devices used to implement the system mayvary depending on the particular network implementation.

The techniques of the present invention may be implemented usingsoftware, hardware and/or a combination of software and hardware. In thecase of software, computer executable instructions used to control aprocessor may be stored in memory or another storage device and thenexecuted by a processor. The present invention is directed to apparatus,e.g., communications devices such as telephones, servers, and/or othercommunications system elements which implement all or a portion of thepresent invention. It is also directed to methods, e.g., method ofcontrolling and/or operating communication system elements to implementone or more portions of the methods of the invention. The presentinvention is also directed to machine readable medium, e.g., ROM, RAM,CDs, hard discs, etc., which include machine readable instructions forcontrolling a machine to implement one or more steps in accordance withthe present invention.

In various embodiments system elements described herein are implementedusing one or more modules to perform the steps corresponding to one ormore methods of the present invention, for example, communicationdetection, communication disposition, signal processing, messagegeneration and/or transmission steps. Thus, in some embodiments variousfeatures of the present invention are implemented using modules. Suchmodules may be implemented using software, hardware or a combination ofsoftware and hardware. Many of the above described methods or methodsteps can be implemented using machine executable instructions, such assoftware, included in a machine readable medium such as a memory device,e.g., RAM, floppy disk, etc. to control a machine, e.g., general purposecomputer with or without additional hardware, to implement all orportions of the above described methods, e.g., in one or more nodes.Accordingly, among other things, the present invention is directed to amachine-readable medium including machine executable instructions forcausing a machine, e.g., processor and associated hardware, to performone or more of the steps of the above-described method(s).

The methods and apparatus of the present invention, are applicable toand can be used with a one or a combination of systems including cablesystems, PSTN systems, cellular systems, etc.

Numerous additional variations of the methods and apparatus of thepresent invention described above will be apparent to those skilled inthe art in view of the above description of the invention. Suchvariations are to be considered within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing access to voice mail, themethod comprising: operating a first server to receive a request, from aset top box, for access to voice mail including a voice mail message andto send a message used to initiate delivery of said voice mail messageto a transcoder, said message used to initiate delivery of said voicemail message to the transcoder being sent to one of said transcoder or avoice mail server; receiving, at said voice mail server a request foraccess to said voice mail message, said request being one of saidmessage used to initiate delivery of said voice mail message to thetranscoder or a message from the transcoder sent in response to thetranscoder receiving said message used to initiate delivery of saidvoice mail message to the transcoder, said voice mail messagecorresponding to a voice mail account, said voice mail server beingconfigured to provide telephone access to stored voice mail messages viaa telephone network and to provide set top box access to stored voicemail messages via said transcoder and a video on demand server;operating said transcoder to transcode said voice mail message andsupply the transcoded voice mail message to the video on demand sever;and operating the video on demand server to supply said transcoded voicemail message to a customer premise device as part of a video on demandsession.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said voice mail message isfrom a caller.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said request for accessto voice mail identifies a voice mail account and at least one storedmessage corresponding to the voice mail account which is to beretrieved.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein said request for access tovoice mail identifies a plurality of messages which are stored asseparate files on said voice mail server which are to be retrieved, themethod further comprising: generating from said multiple messages asingle video on demand file; and wherein operating the video on demandserver to supply said transcoded voice mail message to a customerpremise device as part of a video on demand session includescommunicating said single video on demand file to a set top box.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein said single video on demand file includes anaudio portion communicating a voice mail message and image datacommunicating at least one of a caller ID or a message date; and whereindelivering voice mail content as part of a video on demand sessionincludes communicating said single video file to a set top box duringsaid video on demand session.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving at said video on demand server a message from saidset top box, said message being used to initiate said video on demandsession in which said voice mail content is delivered.
 7. The method ofclaim 3, further comprising: generating from the transcoded voice mailmessage a file including an audio portion communicating said voice mailmessage and an image portion communicating at least one of a caller IDor a message date.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, priorto sending said message used to initiate delivery of said voice mailmessage to one of a transcoder or a voice mail server: operating thefirst server to determine which one of a plurality of voice mail serversstores said voice mail message; and including in said message used toinitiate delivery of said voice mail message information identifying thedetermined one of the plurality of voice mail servers.
 9. A method ofproviding access to voice mail, the method comprising: receiving at afirst server, a request for access to voice mail corresponding to avoice mail account; receiving voice mail content corresponding to saidvoice mail account at a video on demand server; delivering voice mailcontent corresponding to said voice mail account as part of a video ondemand session, said delivering voice mail content as part of a video ondemand session including communicating voice mail content to a set topbox during said video on demand session; operating the first server tosend a control message to one of a voice mail server or a transcoder,said control message triggering said voice mail server to output voicemail content corresponding to said voice mail account or controllingsaid transcoder to request that the voice mail server supply said voicemail content to the transcoder; and wherein said transcoder convertsvoice mail content corresponding to a voice message in a first format toa second format, said second format being supported by said video ondemand server and being one of an MPEG-2 format or AC3 audio format,said first format being different from said second format.
 10. Themethod of claim 9 wherein said first format is one of: a G711Ulawcompliant format, a G.729 compliant format, an Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR)format, a G.726 compliant format, or a Enhanced variable rate codec(EVRC) format.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein said voice mailcontent includes multiple different voice mail messages which wererequested, said transcoder combining audio content corresponding tomultiple voice mail messages into a single video on demand file.
 12. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: operating said transcoder togenerate a video on demand file including said voice mail content insaid second format, generating said video on demand file including:including a set top box executable application in said video on demandfile in addition to said voice mail content in said second format. 13.The method of claim 12, further comprising: including an EBIF trigger insaid video on demand file.
 14. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: operating the first server to signal to the set top box thatthe voice mail content is available for delivery.
 15. The method ofclaim 14, further comprising, prior to the first server signaling to theset top box that the voice mail content is available for delivery:operating the first server to receive a signal indicating that the voicemail content is ready for delivery by the video on demand server.
 16. Avoice mail system comprising: a voice mail server configured to providetelephone access to stored voice mail messages via a public switchedtelephone network and to provide set top box access to stored voice mailmessages via a cable network; a video on demand file generation modulefor generating a video on demand file from retrieved voice mail content,said video on demand file generation module being included in a voicemail message transcoder, said voice mail message transcoder beingconfigured to generate a single file including multiple voice mailmessages, said single file being in a different format than voice mailmessages received by said transcoder; and a video on demand serverconfigured to supply a file generated by said video on demand filegeneration module including voice mail in response to a video on demandrequest.
 17. The voice mail system of claim 16, wherein said video ondemand file includes an audio portion communicating a voice mail messageand image data communicating at least one of a caller ID or a messagedate; and wherein the voice mail system further comprises: a set top boxfor sending a video on demand request, used to retrieve said voice mail,to said video on demand server.
 18. A voice mail system comprising: avoice mail server responsive to requests for voice mail content; a videoon demand file generation module for generating a video on demand filefrom retrieved voice mail content; a video on demand server configuredto supply a file generated by said video on demand file generationmodule and including voice mail in response to a video on demandrequest; wherein said video on demand file generation module is includedin a voice mail message transcoder; and wherein said voice mail messagetrancoder converts voice mail message content in a first format,obtained from said voice mail server, to one of an MPEG-2 or AVCcompliant format.